Me, Britt, and Bryan went to Drumheller, AB today. It’s almost two hours east of Calgary. The Drumheller Valley is in the part of Alberta known as The Badlands. It’s full of hills, coulees, and hoodoos. Of course, the area looks totally different in the winter. I could only imagine what it’s like in the summer.

Bones of many dinosaurs were found in the area–the first being the skull of an Albertasaurus (similar to a T-Rex, only smaller). To hold onto it’s historical past (from 60-70 million years ago), Drumheller has about 30 statues of dinosaurs throughout the town and is home to the largest statue of a dinosaur in Canada a T-Rex that stands over 86ft tall).

We also checked out the, I guess, village of Wayne. Wayne is pretty much a ghost town with a current population of 42.

On our way back from visiting the hoodoos, we walked (and ran) across a suspension bridge. That was pretty fun. Kind of scary too.

Me and Britt went to Sunshine Village today. We left around 9:30am and were on the access road to the resort within the hour (we made damn good time!). Too bad the place was PACKED today. We didn’t make it to the ticket office until noon!

We rode up the gondola (pronounced gond-ole-a [that's the fun way to say it]). Then Britt went to strap into her brand new board and the boots didn’t fit in the bindings!! Turns out the salesman sold her men’s boots with women’s bindings.

So we headed to the retail shop where we ran into Stewart! He’s a manager (I forget for which department) at Sunshine. We met him on our Fall field trip back in November. We talked for a few minutes and he gave Britt a deal–half price for board/bindings rental. That was very nice of him. Thanks again Stewart.

So it was now 1pm and we were finally headed up the Strawberry chair lift. We stayed in this area all day because Britt is still a beginner. But she did great today! She stayed on her feet and I only caught her fall on her behind once. Of course I laughed at her for that one.

We’re going back to Sunshine on Saturday. This time I will take her up a bigger lift and get her a nice, long run on the cat track back to the bottom. We’ll have to work on her toe-edge carving too!

But overall, I had a great impression of Sunshine. There is ample terrain and I was drooling over a bunch of untouched powder that I saw. Saturday should be good!

I went to Lake Louise today with Mikey. I had a blast with him. The conditions were brutal–it was cold, windy, and there was no new snow, but it was still fun!

We took the Greyhound bus from Calgary to Lake Louise a little after 8am and arrived at the resort around 11am. Also, when we arrived at the resort, I realised that I had forgotten my glasses on the bus! So I hope to get those back. If not, I guess I’ll just have to buy a new pair.

Now about the riding. As mentioned above, the conditions were terrible. Along with those conditions, one thing that I really did not like about Lake Louise is that there are TONS of mogul runs. They just pop up out of nowhere! Visibility was also bad high in the alpine. There were parts where we couldn’t see what was coming next so just to be safe, we went slow.

I know I’m really nitpicking at the resort. But I do feel that I caught it on a bad day. There is ample terrain to work with and it has so much potential on a nice powder day. Also, the lodges were beautiful and workers were friendly and helpful. I only hope that next time I ride at Lake Louise that I catch it on a nice powder day.

P.S. Photos will be added to this post after the holidays when I’m back at home with my computer.

I made it to Calgary. Arrived here at 8am yesterday (Sunday) morning. It was a long trip. But I’m glad Jenn was on the bus. We stopped in Salmo and checked out the El Matador and Bull Mountain Inn. Yee. I love Out Cold.

Scott picked me up from the bus depot. Lorie was in bed sick, so I spent yesterday with Brittany and Bryan. We checked out the Market Mall and I bought some Circa Lopez 805 shoes, an element hat, and some movies – Beerfest, Accepted, Donnie Darko, and Zoolander.

They’ve got me doing chores here but it’s fun…for the most part haha. I just got in from playing hockey at the outdoor rink with Britt. We’re going to shoot the puck around tomorrow afternoon too.

I hope everybody made it home safe for the holidays.

I’m pretty stoked right now. I was fingerboarding in the caf today at lunch and landed a couple new tricks. Kenny, you’ll like these… I landed a kickflip to front board on a cafeteria tray and a kickflip to melon! I love fingerboarding! Yee!!

So Saturday was opening day at Whitewater (WH2O) which is the ski resort in Nelson. I couldn’t have asked for a better day—blue-bird skies, nice temperatures, and knee-deep powder. It was just amazing. Almost the whole SROAM (Ski Resort Operation and Management) crew was there too.

It was a busy day. Only the Silver King lift was operating, but there are countless lines available in the trees. It took a bit of exploring, but we still managed to find some untracked pow at the end of the day.

Here’s a shot of the Summit lift line which opens next weekend. I can’t wait!

Here’s Mike (my landlord), Jen and Jacob.

Here’s one of my roomates, Bailey, ripping through some pow.

Matt looks badass in this picture, but he’s really harmless. Here he is catching some turns in the pow.

Here are some nice shots of the mountain that I took throughout the day. Check out the wind on top of Ymir Peak! I’m going to hike up that bad boy this season—just have to wait til I get my Avi gear.

They call me the HAMBURGLAR with my ketchup jacket, mustard pants, and relish gloves. Check out the icy hair after a nice day of riding!

So it was a great first day of the season! It was a great first time riding real POWDER!! Let me tell you, it’s not easy to ride pow. It kicked the shit out of me. My legs almost collapsed after three runs! It’s going to be a great season at WH2O.